New Essay by Matt Colborn | Open worldviews: Against the degradation of humanity
New essay by Matt Colborn on the Essentia Foundation website
Announcement: The Essentia Foundation have published Matt Colborn’s new essay “Open worldviews: Against the degradation of humanity” on their website. Here’s the introductory blurb:
“Dr. Colborn argues that, perhaps surprisingly, the worldview of the technology elite is shifting from fundamentalist materialism to a form of apocalypticism that echoes fundamentalist Christianity. This shift in belief is, according to Colborn, not based on an honest search for truth, but instead an attempt to legitimize agendas of power and control. As such, it risks dehumanizing humanity. The analysis in this essay is particularly important in today’s world of emerging agentic AI, wherein—insofar as we believe that AI mechanisms are conscious—we may end up believing that conscious beings are mere mechanisms. Dr. Colborn has just published a book with our own imprint, Essentia Books: What Lies Beyond.”
NOTE: This essay can be read independently, but it’s also an extension and update of the arguments that I make in chapters nine and ten of my book, What Lies Beyond.